Śląskie baktriany. Próba interpretacji symboliki wielbłąda w heraldyce rycerstwa śląskiego np. XIV w. pieczęci rodzin von Exau i von Grebelwitz
Silesian bactrian camels. An attempt to interpret the symbolism of a camel in the heraldry of the Silesian knighthood...

Summary/Abstract: A Camel, appearing in the 14th century in seals of Silesian families von Exau and von Grebelwitz, rather belongs to special motives in the Middle-Aged knighthood heraldry. The origins of its appearance in coat of arms of Silesian families cannot be explained in one way. It goes without saying that we deal with a sacralization of an imagination untypical of our conditions, tightly connected with a sphere of universal knighthood morals. Both in works of art and biblical symbolism, a camel is a representation of loyalty, perseverance and humbleness. Surely, these universal moral values, already glorified in biblical times, and confirmed by church among the knighthood in the Middle-Ages, were exposed by families von Exau and von Grebelwitz. The choice of such an exotic motive could be explained by a reminiscence of the Crusades, and even, probably, a journey to a Holy Land by one of the ancestors of the family von Exau and von Grebelwitz from which he could bring a camel if it were not for the fact that it appears when the Crusade fever has already subsided. The fact that a camel appears in other countries, proves that it was a universal sign, having similar symbolic-meaning connotations. Thus, either a simple imitation of a motive, permeating from a family into a family thanks to family connections, tournament contacts, armed expeditions and various trips or a pure coincidence fleeting from a detailed scientific cognition.

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